RoguePlanet

Maybe I LIKE having a blog that sucks.

Thursday, July 15, 2004

The Tawanna Brawley of France

Found her Al Sharpton in Andrew Sullivan. Is that unfair? Yes, but so what. It's Andrew Sullivan.

You may recall reading a few days ago about a French woman who claimed to have attacked on a commuter train in Paris. Her attackers were "six young men, who appeared to be of North African and African origin."

One young man grabbed the woman's backpack and examined her identity papers, which gave her address as the upscale 16th Arrondissement of Paris.

"At this, one of them said, 'She's a rich kid,'" the police spokesman said. "And then he adds, 'There are only Jews in the 16th.'"

The woman said the men slashed her clothes with a knife and drew three swastikas on her stomach.

Mr. Sullivan pounced on the story and used it slam Jacques Chirac. "Yet another sickening anti-Semitic attack in France, and the usual blathering from Chirac about it. When Chirac actually criticizes his favorite Arab states for fomenting anti-Semitism, then I'll take him seriously," huffed Andy.

What did Mr. Chirac say that Andy characterized as "blather?" This: President Jacques Chirac, in a statement on Saturday, asked that everything possible be done "to find the authors of this shameful act."

I guess that is blather. It reminded me of some other blather I heard not too long ago:

Now THAT'S some good blather. Top that, Chirac, you . . . French person!

Anyway, so, Andy cannot take Mr. Chirac's promise to try to catch the perps seriously until Mr. Chirac "actually criticizes his favorite Arab states for fomenting anti-Semitism." Yes, that makes perfect sense. No, one cannot take Mr. Chirac's promise to catch anti-semitic lawbreakers in France until he denounces his "favorite Arab states." I wonder what Mr. Chirac's "favorite Arab states" are? Whoever they are, I think it is a dubious prospect that he will denounce them by name as vigorously as Mr. Bush has denounced, say, Saudi Arabia.

Of course as you now know the woman made up the whole story, and the usual blathering from Chirac about it: "When there is a manipulation, the manipulator must be punished with the rigor of the law," [Chirac] said. Puh-lease. I'll take him seriously when he actually criticizes his favorite manipulator states for fomenting manipulation.

Btw, Andy has apologized. So I hope it's not wrong of me to make fun of him.